Jury trials to be scrapped for all but most serious offences

Jury trials for all except the most serious crimes such as rape, murder and manslaughter are to be scrapped under radical proposals drawn up by David Lammy.

- Rajeev Syal Home affairs editor

In proposals that drew a swift backlash from senior lawyers, who said they would not reduce court backlogs and could “destroy justice as we know it”, the justice secretary proposed that juries would only pass judgment on public interest offences with possible prison sentences of more than five years.

Lone judges would preside over trials of other serious offences meriting sentences of up to five years, he suggested, removing the ancient right of thousands of defendants to be heard before a jury.

The Ministry of Justice said no final decision had been taken by the government, but sources confirmed the proposals had been circulated throughout Whitehall in preparation for an announcement in the new year.

Lammy's proposals, which would create a new tier of court in which most criminal offences would be tried by judges alone, go well beyond the recommendations of Sir Brian Leveson, who was commissioned to review the criminal courts and reported in July. They also exceed the plan to stop criminals "gaming the system" which was set out by courts minister Sarah Sackman in an interview with the Guardian last week.

The MoJ document, circulated in Whitehall earlier this month, reports that crown courts are facing record backlogs, with more than 78,000 cases waiting to be completed.